Understanding Antarctic and Arctic marine ecosystems by exploring biodiversity and resilience to environmental change is critical for making policy decisions that will lead to effective stewardship and sustainable management of marine resources. This strand of research combines existing long-term data with new field-based and experimental observations to explore the impact of environmental change on marine ecosystems.
It is now estimated that >30,000 whales visit South Georgia in summer, making this sub-Antarctic island the highest-density UK hotspot for recovering whales, including critically endangered Antarctic blue whales. The …
The evolution and ecology of Antarctic sea floor communities is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, led by Dr Rowan Whittle, looking at the past, present and future of life at …
Whales are the largest krill predators in the UK Overseas territory of South Georgia, yet their impacts on krill stocks are poorly understood. Recently, whale surveys revealed high summer abundance …
CONSEC is addressing the challenge to understand the links between the biodiversity, structure and function of Southern Ocean ecosystems and the impacts of rapid environmental changes to improve scientific knowledge …
This is a Darwin Plus project, funded by Defra, and its activities are focussed in the UK Overseas Territory (OT) of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands. The project …
The South Georgia Pelagic Biodiversity project is a Darwin-funded project, led by BAS, and in partnership with the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) and the …
The Greenland Ice Sheet is decaying at an accelerating rate in response to climate change. Warm ocean waters moving through the fjords eventually meet the faces of marine-terminating glaciers, increasing …
This Darwin Plus funded project aims to improve our understanding of how Antarctic krill, foraging whales and the krill fishery interact in space and time, to improve krill fishery management …
The HEXPLORES project aims to explore for active hydrothermal vents in the Red Sea Rift. Although the Red Sea Rift hosts the world’s largest submarine metalliferous sulphide deposit, no active …
The Winter Krill project is a Darwin Plus project, funded by Defra, and its activities are focussed on South Georgia (SG), which is part of the UK Overseas Territory (OT) …
1 June, 2023
Concern is rising about tipping points in the Antarctic region (Armstrong et al., 2022). Recent heatwaves, changes in the Southern Ocean, and a reduction in the extent of Antarctic sea …
12 March, 2019
A team of scientists set sail this week (12 March) for the remote South Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha and St Helena. This mission is part of BAS’ commitment …
21 January, 2019
British Antarctic Survey scientist Professor Richard Phillips has been awarded funding to use newly developed radar-detecting tags to track the interactions between wandering albatrosses and fishing vessels in the South …
22 October, 2018
BAS marine researchers join nearly 300 international delegates at the annual meeting of the Convention on the Conservation or Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) beginning in Hobart today. For the …
2 March, 2018
Heavy sea ice conditions have thwarted a science mission from reaching the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica from which a large iceberg broke off in July 2017. A team …
25 January, 2018
A new study of tiny marine snails called sea butterflies shows the great lengths these animals go to repair damage caused by ocean acidification. The paper, led by researchers at …
15 December, 2017
A new study shows that Antarctic krill behave in a way that could accelerate the transport of atmospheric carbon to the deep ocean. Antarctic krill form some of the highest …
20 November, 2017
The populations of wandering, black-browed and grey-headed albatrosses have halved over the last 35 years on sub-antarctic Bird Island according to a new study published today (20 November) in the …
9 October, 2017
A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), is planning an urgent mission to investigate a mysterious marine ecosystem that’s been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice shelf for …
4 September, 2017
A new study of the marine invertebrates living in the seas around Antarctica reveals there will be more ‘losers’ than ‘winners’ over the next century as the Antarctic seafloor warms. …
11 November, 2016
A new study on how molluscs build their shells in the sub-zero waters of Antarctica is published today (Friday 11 November) in the journal Scientific Reports. A team of European …